Cloak of Fear
| rarity = Common | type = Unit Enchantment | casting_cost = | combat_casting_cost = | upkeep_cost = | research_cost = | effects = When the enchanted unit engages an enemy in melee combat, each in the enemy unit must succeed a roll or be unable to inflict any Melee Damage. }} Cloak of Fear is a Common Unit Enchantment belonging to the realm. For it may be cast on any friendly unit on the overland map to give it the Cause Fear ability. Whenever this unit engages an enemy in Melee combat, each and every in the enemy unit must make a roll (with no penalty). Failure in this roll means that the cannot inflict any Melee Damage on the enchanted unit. This works both when the enchanted unit makes a Melee Attack or Counter Attack against an enemy. Alternatively, a cheaper version of the same spell may be cast for during combat, in which case it will temporarily bestow the same bonus on a unit for the duration of the battle (with no permanent effects or upkeep costs). Effects Cloak of Fear gives a unit the ability to instill fear in its enemies. If it manages to scare an enemy , that figure may not inflict any Melee Damage at the enchanted unit. Cause Fear Effect : When a unit is enchanted with Cloak of Fear, it gains an ability identical to Cause Fear. Whenever the enchanted unit makes a Melee Attack against an enemy, or comes under a Melee Attack from an enemy unit, each in the enemy unit must make a roll. Any enemy that fails this roll may not deliver any Melee Damage against the enchanted unit, nor any Touch Attack associated with that damage. Note that enemies that succumb to the Fear effect may still suffer damage, but may not deliver it. Immunities Units with Magic Immunity or Death Immunity, units under the effect of , and Charmed Heroes are not affected by the Fear effect. Units with a modified Resistance score of or higher are also immune to it, since they cannot possibly fail their Resistance rolls. The conditional bonuses of and both apply to checks against Cloak of Fear. Usage Like all other Unit Enchantments, Cloak of Fear must be targeted at a friendly unit. If the desired target is in an overland army stack, clicking on the stack brings up a list of the units in it, allowing the selection of any individual unit. The spell may be cast during combat for the rather low Casting Cost of . In this case, the spell will only affect the targeted unit until the end of the battle - at which point it will dissipate. Alternatively, Cloak of Fear may be cast on the overland map for a lasting effect. In this case it has a base Casting Cost of , and requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn to maintain. Failure to pay this Upkeep Cost due to lack of Mana will cause the spell to fizzle. However, as long as the spell is paid for (and not dispelled by any rival Wizard), the unit continues to enjoy its benefits. Once the spell is in effect, the unit will glow with a aura, unless there is a more powerful spell also affecting it. Cloak of Fear may be removed by its caster by examining the unit's details (while not in battle) and clicking the Enchantment's icon. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving for other spells. Acquisition As a Common spell, Cloak of Fear may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Spellbooks. Customized Wizards possessing up to Spellbooks at game creation may choose Cloak of Fear as one of their starting spells, in which case it will be available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards with Spellbooks always have this spell available for casting as soon as the game begins. Wizards with or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Cloak of Fear as a starting spell have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With Spellbooks or more, it will eventually always appear for Research. Cloak of Fear has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbook, the Cloak of Fear spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Strategy Assuming that Cloak of Fear actually works as intended, it can make the enchanted unit significantly less vulnerable to enemy Melee Attacks and Counter Attacks - especially when combating enemies with low scores. Such enemies will struggle to inflict any damage on the enchanted unit, or at least will inflict less damage than normal. Since each individual makes its own resistance roll, are more susceptible to this effect. Unless the unit has a very high score, there is a good chance that at least one figure will fail its roll, thus reducing the unit's overall attack strength. This makes Cloak of Fear units very useful for safely dispatching enemy Normal Units. Known Bugs In version 1.31 of the game, there are two distinctive bugs with Cloak of Fear (originating from bugs of the Cause Fear ability itself), both of which are fixed by the unofficial patches: * If the Cloak of Fear unit is defending against a Melee Attack, the enchantment has no effect at all. * If the enchanted unit is the attacker, it is instead also affected by the spell, in a rather peculiar way. The defender rolls for each of its (a second time), and for each failed roll, one of the attacking also gets feared and deals no damage. This is in addition to the defender being subjected to Cloak of Fear, and the attacker's or immunities play absolutely no part. This makes the spell generally not worth casting at all unless the target unit has a very high count itself. Category:Unit Enchantments Category:Death